As an Employment Advisor, I’ve seen firsthand how the financial barriers that refugees face in the UK, particularly when retraining and requalifying, can significantly impair their ability to build fulfilling professional careers.
Despite having decades of experience as skilled professionals, many of my refugee clients find that their qualifications are not recognised in the UK. For example, someone with years of experience as a dentist or architect in their home country may need to complete additional exams, certifications, and UK-based qualifications before they can practice their profession. This process can be long, unexpected and expensive.
Meanwhile, even refugees who aren’t legally required to recertify often find UK employers reluctant to accept overseas qualifications. They may feel pressured to pursue further education in the UK or consider re-training for a different role. Once again, the costs can be significant.
The reality of high living costs and the immediate need to earn an income also often lead refugees to taking temporary or low-paying jobs. These jobs don’t always reflect an individual’s talents or professional background, and this mismatch can take a toll financially and mentally.
However, these challenges can be overcome with the right support and opportunities, unlocking potential just waiting to shine.
Our clients’ experiences
Clients I work with have expressed that, from their experience, hiring teams often fail to recognise international qualifications on the same level as UK standards, leading to bias and missed opportunities.
One client emphasised the importance of allowing the opportunity for refugees to demonstrate their diverse expertise and perspectives through interviews, avoiding preconceptions about the quality of their professional or academic experiences during the shortlisting process.
In another client’s case, he found that the demand for UK experience was a significant obstacle – even though there were no requirements of this for his career. The quality of his international experience was overlooked. This can lead to pressure to pursue additional UK-based qualifications or certifications to bridge the gap created by the lack of UK experience.
Tackling financial barriers to employment
Building and having a community plays a big role in tackling financial obstacles to entering meaningful work. People born and raised in the UK often benefit from well-established support networks like family, friends, educational institutions and professional connections. These networks play a key role in navigating career opportunities. Without these networks, refugees can find that job opportunities and invaluable guidance for career growth is harder to access.
However, many refugees show resilience in overcoming these barriers to build successful careers. And many organisations are helping too.
City & Guilds, the global skills development organisation, is already addressing these challenges in two important ways.
Through its relationship with the UK European Network of Information Centres (ENIC), the City & Guilds Foundation arranges statements of comparability for Breaking Barriers clients. These certificates confirm overseas qualifications and compare them with their UK equivalents, enabling refugees to demonstrate the relevance of their qualifications to employers.
In addition, City & Guilds has opened its bursary programme to our clients to help fund their studies. The bursary programme offers up to £6000 to cover eligible training programme costs and tools for learning materials, directly removing financial barriers for refugees.
Moreover, an increasing number of educational institutions in the UK are offering sanctuary scholarships, demonstrating a growing recognition of refugees’ unique circumstances and their need for increased access to higher education. More than 80 universities across the UK offer scholarships, bursaries, and fee waivers for those seeking asylum, including the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics.
Meanwhile, organisations like Building Bridges and RefuAid are working to remove financial barriers for refugee professionals.
Building Bridges provide tailored requalification guidance to help London-based refugees access financial support and pathways to registration, such as covering fees for registration with the General Medical Council.
Similarly, RefuAid offers its ‘Equal Access Loan’, which provides up to £10,000 in interest-free loans to help refugees cover the costs of requalification and retraining. Together, these organisations make the requalification process more accessible, offering both financial assistance and personalised support to help refugees pursue their careers in the UK.
How can you help as an employee or business?
Here are a few practical ways you can make a real difference:
- Grants and scholarships to remove these financial barriers are invaluable. Why not advocate for your workplace to offer sponsorship for retraining fees as part of a job offer? This would make use of refugees’ existing skills and allows them to gain required credentials, while companies benefit by hiring individuals with established experience in the sector.
- Creating opportunities like job placements with training allows for earning while learning, enabling people to deal with the rising cost of living.
- If you’re hiring, offering jobs that align with refugees’ experience and recognise their international qualifications (UK ENIC) can help attract overlooked professionals. This approach helps refugees find meaningful work and brings diverse, talented individuals into the workforce.
- While it may not be feasible to offer jobs to individuals without the necessary UK-based qualifications, offering more entry-level roles that don’t require the specific accreditation allows refugees to gain UK experience in their desired field while requalifying.
- Collaborating with refugee organisations is key to accessing global talent. Our corporate partners work with us and clients not only on hiring and placement opportunities but also by offering bespoke training pathways, mentoring and general or sector-specific workshops. These support clients in gaining confidence and first-hand experience from people working in the sector they aspire to. Corporate volunteers also get the chance to learn more about the barriers refugees face, build new connections, and learn more about the vast skills our clients possess.
- Be an Advocate: The power of advocacy should not be underestimated. Start conversations about refugee integration at work and encourage your company to join networks like Breaking Barriers’ Business Behind Refugees to support refugee employment.
I’ve had the remarkable opportunity to work alongside refugees and help bring their incredible talent and unwavering resilience to UK businesses. Yet, regardless of industry or profession, we can all play a role in breaking down the financial barriers refugees face to requalification and meaningful employment.
By boosting inclusive hiring practices and building workplace awareness, you can empower refugees to contribute their valuable skills and enrich your business with diverse perspectives and experiences.
*Client’s name has been changed to protect individual privacy.
This blog highlights refugees’ financial barriers, but we also know that asylum seekers with the right to work may face additional challenges. For example, asylum seekers with ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) cannot access support such as welfare benefits. This lack of access to public funds can further complicate their financial situation.
A future blog in this series will explore these differences in more detail.
Discover the businesses who have already committed to breaking down financial and other barriers for refugees by visiting our Business Behind Refugees movement page.
